


Unusual Late Night Visit

by TheShatteredRose



Category: Pocket Monsters: X & Y | Pokemon X & Y Versions
Genre: Complete, M/M, Two Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-13
Updated: 2013-12-13
Packaged: 2018-01-04 12:36:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,788
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1081087
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheShatteredRose/pseuds/TheShatteredRose
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Pulling an all-nighter, Sycamore receives a rather unusual surprise – a pokemon crashing in through his windows of his office! But that isn’t what concerns him. It’s the young man lying unconscious in a Charizard’s arms!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1:

Sycamore leaned back in his chair as he stretched his arms over his head. Being hunched over his desk as he worked was beginning to put his back out. It was late in the night and he was starting to get tired. But he was on a roll at the moment and didn’t want to stop work just yet.

Yeah, he was pulling another all-nighter.

He didn’t mind, though. Especially now that an adorable teen called Calem entered his life. He wasn’t entirely certain how the young man knew whenever he had over-worked himself, but the next morning Calem would always appear, ready to berate and fuss over him. Sometimes he came with coffee, other times he came with puffy pastry for him to eat.

The first time that happened, Sycamore simply took the pastries and set them aside. But this one time Calem sat on the edge of his desk and shoved a piece of food into his mouth mid yawn.

It startled Sycamore greatly when it happened, and he simply stared at Calem with the pastry perched in his mouth. Calem looked a little embarrassed, but determined nonetheless.

“Eat,” he simply commanded as he picked up another pastry.

Greatly amused, Sycamore did what he was told. When he finished chewing and swallowed, he opened his mouth, motioning for Calem to give him another piece of food. And Calem did!

From that point on, Sycamore insisted Calem hand feed him, absolutely enjoying the way he would blush fiercely. He would still hand-feed him, though. It seemed to please him as it meant he could ensure Sycamore was eating.

Folding his arms behind his head as he continued to lean back in his chair, Sycamore smiled as he recalled the memories. Out of all his chosen Pokedex holders, he looked forward to Calem’s visits the most. He shouldn’t play favourites, but it was something completely beyond his control.

Calem was just so cute.

The strange sound of flapping wings pulled Sycamore out of his thoughts. Upon reflex he glanced over to his window that overlooked the city streets, blinking in confusion. That strange noise, which he could only describe as the desperate fluttering of large wings, intensified.

Suddenly, there was an orange glow followed by an explosion, so great that the windows shattered and the walls splintered.

Sycamore found himself thrown back in his chair, his head thankfully missing the bookshelf behind him, his one foot on his desk in a haphazard manner. As a small dust cloud engulfed him he couldn’t help but think ‘Thank goodess I’m the only one here’.

Pushing himself up with his hands, Sycamore peered over the top of his desk, utterly bewildered and frazzled by what could have happened. It was almost like a bomb had gone off. Yet, there wasn’t the smell of explosive debris. And when a loud roar echoed through his office, he quickly realised that the explosion wasn’t from a bomb, but a Pokémon.

In a flap of wings, the dust settled, revealing the form of a large Charizard.

Sycamore found himself simply staring. Did a pokemon just crash in through the windows? It appeared so. But why? Was it in distress?

The Charizard stood amongst the debris of shattered window glass and broken dry wall and brick. Its wings were spread in a full wing span, its tail flaming brightly against the night sky. It looked determined, formidable and…desperate?

Sensing that the pokemon meant him no harm, Sycamore picked himself up off the floor. Now that he was no longer peering over the top of his desk, he immediately caught on to why the pokemon made such a dramatic entrance. It was his former pokemon. It was the little Charmander that he had presented to a talented pokemon trainer on his very first adventure.

How did he know? Because of the very teen was lying limply in Charizard's arms!

“Calem?!”

Scrambling over his desk, Sycamore fumbled his way over to Charizard and ultimately to Calem. Charizard made a low growling noise, almost like a whine, and carefully loosened his hold on Calem, allowing Sycamore the chance to study the young man.

And while Sycamore found Calem to be utterly adorable in everything he did, he didn’t like the state he was in now.

Calem appeared unhealthily pale, yet his face was flushed a light red, his forehead covered in a thin layer of sweat. His lips where parted and dry, his breathe coming out in short, ragged puffs. And he was shivering quite violently, twitching and whimpering.

He also appeared to be unconscious.

Sycamore gently, but quickly, removed Calem from Charizard's hold, gathering him into his own arms. He slipped one arm around Calem’s shoulders as the other slid under his knees. As he lifted the younger man from his pokemon’s grasp, Sycamore’s frown deepened when Calem's head lolled against his shoulder, his eyes clamped shut. His body was rocked with short, trembling spasms, curling into Sycamore’s chest as if seeking a source of comfort.

Calem didn’t look good at all. What could have happened?

With his office now a thorough mess (more than it usually was, anyway), Sycamore cradled Calem tenderly in his arms as he carried the boy to the small spare bedroom that he would sometimes crash in. Charizard, of course, followed him, keeping his tail and wings close to his body so not to cause any more damage.

Sycamore carefully deposited Calem onto his bed, his hand slipping to cradle the back of Calem’s head as he removed his pokebag from his shoulder and around his neck. He placed the bag onto the floor, next to the bed as he set about loosening Calem’s jacket to make him more comfortable.

As he removed Calem’s hat, he felt his brow, which furrowed under his touch. And Sycamore frowned as well. Calem had a fever. No surprised, really, by the deep flush to his cheeks.

Calem then mumbled something incoherently, whimpering slightly. “…Ab…sol…”

It took Sycamore only a moment to piece the word together. Absol? Ah, he must have a new addition to his party! And that Pokemon must know what had happened to put him in such a state.

Although Sycamore could not understand pokemon in a human sense of communication, he understood their actions and feelings to some point. Hence the reason why he allowed Charmander to join Calem on his adventure.

Speaking of which…

“Easy now,” Sycamore soothed the concerned pokemon with a pat on his muzzle. “I’ll take care of him.”

Charizard granted him a low whine, but nodded his head nevertheless. Sycamore couldn’t help but smile. He wasn’t at all angry that Charizard literally crashed into his office. It was quite heartening, actually! It meant that Calem was indeed a wonderful pokemon trainer.

Speaking of his pokemon, Sycamore better check up on them, as well. After all, that will be the first question Calem will ask him when he recovers. And he needed to figure out what happened to him in the first place. He had a theory, but he needed to be sure.

Walking over to Calem’s bag, Sycamore quickly picked up four pokeballs that were neatly held in a certain pocket with easy access. He released the four pokeballs and immediately, Braixen, Honedge, Tyrunt and Absol appeared.

And they all squealed in concern when they spotted Calem lying on the bed.

“Easy, easy!” Sycamore said, motioning with his hands for everyone to calm down. “He’ll be fine. I need to know what happened, though.”

Absol immediately ran over to Calem’s bag and scratched around, causing some of the contents to spill out onto the floor. A moment later Absol pulled back, a medicinal bottle in its mouth. Absol than hastily scrambled back over to Sycamore, pawing at his leg and whining softly.

Sycamore bent down and removed the bottle from Absol mouth. An antidote?

Oh! Calem had been poisoned!

It was something that was more common with Pokemon than with humans, however not completely unheard of. And since humans were not as strong as Pokemon, their symptoms were more acute and debilitating.

However, it was quite lucky that Sycamore had an antidote designed for humans in his possession. He had been poisoned accidentally (…yeah, completely his fault, actually) a few times in his career, so it was important to be well prepared.

“I’ll be right back,” Sycamore reassured Calem’s pokemon.

He then quickly slipped out of the room and back into his office. It was lucky that it was a rather warm night. A slight breeze was coming in through the hole in the wall, causing papers to ruffle and shuffle about.

What a mess. Ah, well, there’s no harm in adding to it, was there? If he had to throw a few random things over his shoulder in his haste to find the antidote, no one was going to know.

Quickly locating the antidote in a cupboard full of reference books and rolled up posters, Sycamore grabbed it and stumbled through the debris, hastily making his way back. And when he returned to his bedroom, he found himself smiling again by the sight of Calem’s pokemon huddling around his bed, watching over him.

“Ok, everyone,” Sycamore said. “I need to take care of him now.”

Reluctantly, the pokemon shuffled away from the bed, allowing Sycamore to take charge. They kept a close eye, though. It was quite remarkable. The pokemon seemed very, very fond of Calem. Protective even. But they were allowing Sycamore to look after him.

Well, Sycamore was quite familiar with Calem’s pokemon. Calem had spent time with Sycamore in his lab, after all. So they knew him, knew that he was reliable. Knew that he was someone they could trust.

But was it more than that?

Putting his thoughts aside for now, Sycamore took a moment to study Calem as he needed to know how badly the poison was affecting him, and how. It was obvious that Calem must have inhaled the poison. After all, if it was on his skin, everyone around him would have gotten poisoned as well. Besides, he didn’t have a rash or any skin lesions.

Sitting on the bed, Sycamore carefully lifted Calem up into his arms, positioning him onto his lap and holding him against his chest while Calem’s head rested back on his shoulder. Keeping a firm arm around Calem’s shoulders, Sycamore reached for the antidote.

“Breathe deeply for me, Calem,” Sycamore said he held the puffer with the antidote to Calem's lips.

The first spray of the antidote caused Calem to cough, not ragged, painful coughs, thankfully. A ticklish cough. A good sign. It meant that the antidote was reaching his lungs.

Carefully, whenever Calem drew in a breath, Sycamore would give him a small puff of the antidote. He didn’t want to give it to him all at once as that might make him worst. Slow and steady.

When the bottle was empty, Sycamore put the antidote aside. He kept Calem on his lap, running his fingers through his hair in a comforting manner. He didn’t feel as clammy as before. And he had stopped trembling, breathing a little easier.

Sycamore pressed his lips against Calem’s forehead, sighing with relief. “Thank Arceus.”

Keeping Calem cradled against his chest, Sycamore shuffled around and tugged at the blankets on his bed, turning them down. Once more he picked Calem up into his arms and placed him back onto the bed. He removed Calem’s shoes and jacket before lifting the blankets and tucking them around Calem’s sleeping form.

Sycamore couldn’t help smiling when Absol curled up onto the bed next to Calem, snuggling against his side as his other pokemon huddled around the bed once more. What a wonderful trainer Calem must be for his pokemon to react in such a way!

Well, this had been a rather an unusual change of events. Calem was the one usually looking after him. And despite the circumstances, it was nice to take care of Calem for once. He could have gone without Calem being poisoned, though.

Now…what was he going to do about his office?

…Aw, heck. That can wait until the morning, Sycamore decided as he settled himself down in a chair, joining Calem’s pokemon as they watch over the intriguing young man sleeping on his bed.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: _  
_

_Sycamore was hunched over his desk, numerous files and thick refrence books littered the space before him. He had been in this position for a while, according to his backache anyway. In all honesty, he had no idea how long he had been working. He tended to lose concept of time._

_A bright light suddenly flooding the room caused Sycamore to clamp his eyes shut, wincing from the glare. Startled, he lifted his head up away from his reports and straightened his hunched form. He was surprised to see Calem standing in front of the windows, which had been thrown open in a hastily manner, one hand on his hip, the other carrying a tray with a cup of steaming coffee and a frosted fruit roll._

_“Professor,” he said in a rather plain greeting._

_“When did you get here, Calem?” Sycamore asked. How long had the young man been walking about his office without him knowing?_

_“A while ago,” Calem answered quite tersely, but not all that harshly. “When was the last time you went outside?”_

_“Yesterday,” Sycamore answered._

_“What day was yesterday?” Calem asked him, giving him a rather sceptical stare._

_“Monday, obviously.”_

_Calem’s eyes narrowed further. “It’s Wednesday today.”_

_Oh…Wow, time flies when you’re busy being a Pokemon Professor, huh?_

_“Honestly,” Calem mumbled as he approached his desk. He pushed aside some files and books before perching himself on the edge, picking up the piece of food. “You’re just like a baby pokemon. Now, open wide. We need to get some kind of food into you.”_

Sometime during his vigil, Sycamore must have fallen asleep. For the next thing he knew there was a hand on his arm, shaking him softly from a dream-like memory. Someone was also saying his name.

“Professor Sycamore?”

Immediately recognising the voice, Sycamore forced his eyes to open. Although blurry from sleep, he was able to see Calem sitting on the edge of his bed. His hair was slightly dishevelled and an expression of shyness and concern on his face as he continued to grip at his arm.

“Ah? Oh, Calem?” Sycamore murmured as he began to wake up fully, sitting straight in his chair. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m fine,” Calem responded, blushing. Yes, he was indeed blushing. He didn’t have that sickly flush look to his cheeks, nor did he hold any pain in his eyes that made them appear glassy. He seemed embarrassed and a little confused. No surprise, really.

Still, he looked a little pale. Paler than Sycamore would have liked. Again, no surprise. Receiving poison of any kind in any manner took time to recover from. He had better take it easy for a little while. A day or two at the very least.

Convincing the boy of that, however, might be a bit tricky.

As he removed his grip on Sycamore’s arm, Calem perched himself on the edge of the bed, looking fidgety. “How did I…?”

Sycamore stretched his arms over his head, relieved to see that he was feeling and looking much better than he did last night. He was slightly surprised that Calem’s pokemon weren’t in the room. Did they duck out for some reason? Ah, maybe they were checking out the damage in his office. Could even be standing guard.

“Charizard brought you here,” Sycamore answered Calem’s question simply. He’ll leave out the dramatic entrance for now. He kinda wanted to see Calem’s reaction when he saw the damages for himself.

“Charizard?” Calem furrowed his brow in confusion and shook his head slightly. “I don’t have a Charizard. I mean, Charmeleon…”

Ah, that was right. The last time Sycamore saw Calem (which was only a few days ago), he had a Charmeleon. So that meant…

“Congratulations!” Sycamore smiled. “You now have a Charizard.”

“…Charmeleon evolved to…?” Calem murmured, the impact of Sycamore’s words slowly dawning on him. He looked momentarily dumbfounded. It was almost as if he could hardly comprehend the fact that Charmeleon evolved to Charizard to help him, to carry him from who-knows-where in Kalos to safety.

Pokemon usually evolve during battle, but it wasn’t completely unheard of for them to evolve when their trainer needed them most.

“Seems like it,” Sycamore continued to grin at Calem’s bewildered expression.

However, a somewhat serious expression appeared on his face a mere moment later. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. He needed to get down to business. As amazing as it was to have a pokemon evolve to save his trainer, he wanted to know how it came to that. Calem was a calm and nurturing boy. He was the care-taker, always watching out for everyone else. How could he have gotten into trouble?

“Now, care to tell me what happened to you?”

Calem’s hands curled and uncurled around the edge of the bed. His brow was furrowed as he tried to piece together his hazy memories. “…I was poisoned, I think,” he replied, nibbling on his bottom lip.

Sycamore nodded his head. That much he knew. “How did you get poisoned?”

“We were surprised,” Calem murmured weakly, being rather vague. “I didn’t want Absol to get hurt.”

“I figured as much,” Sycamore said as he scratched the back of his head.

Although Calem’s answer was short, it explained enough. They must have accidentally stumbled across a disgruntled poison pokemon while Calem was bonding with Absol. And Calem, being himself, must have automatically reacted, putting himself between Absol and the wild pokemon. And with Absol being the newest member and still quite young, Calem simply reacted. There was no other word to use.

The protective instinct was strong with this one.

“Are my pokemon ok?” Calem asked, pulling Sycamore from his musings. “Absol wasn’t poisoned, was she?”

“Your pokemon friends are fine,” Sycamore immediately replied, resisting the urge to roll his eyes. He had been waiting for that question. “They’ve been worried about you.”

“I’m sorry,” Calem suddenly said. “This is your bed, isn’t it?”

“I wasn’t using it,” Sycamore replied, a smile returning to his lips when he received a slight narrowing of the eyes from Calem. He had expected that and seeing it was honestly reassuring.

And despite the blush to his cheeks, Calem’s glare was still quite menacing.

“Were you pulling an all-nighter again?” Calem asked him, although it didn’t sound much like a question, but an accusation.

“A professor’s work is never done!” Sycamore continued to grin as he stood up.

Before Calem could full completely into care-taker mode, passive-aggressively fuming at him, Sycamore lifted his hand and placed it against Calem’s forehead, startling him somewhat. He was still for just a moment before he lifted his own hand, wrapping his fingers around Sycamore’s wrist and tugging his hand away.

“I’m fine, really,” Calem said as he touched Sycamore’s hand with both of his in a reassuring manner before letting.

Although Sycamore’s hand had only been in contact with Calem’s brow for just a few fleeting moments, he still felt slightly warm. Nowhere near as feverish as he was last night (thank goodness), but it wouldn’t hurt for him to drop a few more degrees.

And when was the last time he had eaten anything?

Knowing that Calem was the one who usually did the fussing and the mothering, Sycamore opted for a more casual approach. He didn’t want him to get all flustered and skittish, and making a run for it in order to prove that he was fine. “In any case, let’s go get something to eat.”

Sycamore held his hand out for Calem to take. And without hesitation, Calem did so. He slipped his smaller hand into Sycamore’s, allowing him to pull him to his feet. He even kept a firm grip on his hand as the two of them left the room.

However, as soon as Calem stepped out of the room, he was engulfed by his concerned and loving Pokemon. He laughed ever so cutely, wrapping his arms around his pokemon, giving them all a hug and a pat.

“I’m ok now,” he said to them all in a comforting way, smiling gently. “Sorry for worrying you all.”

Calem then lifted his head up, his gaze immediately falling on Charizard. He swallowed thickly, as if pushing back a wave of emotion. Giving his smaller pokemon another reassuring pat, Calem pushed himself to his feet and quickly paddled his way over to Charizard.

Without any hesitation, he threw his arms around Charizard’s neck, hugging tightly. “Thank you, Charizard. You evolved to help me. Thank you.”

Charizard was undeniably happy, his tail wagging behind him as he nuzzled the top of Calem’s head. He even made a slight purring sound.

“Charizard has flourished under your care,” Sycamore commented, smiling sincerely at the heartening scene. “It’s quite remarkable how affectionate he is with you. Not to mention your Absol and the rest of your pokemon.”

“I’m sorry for worrying you,” Calem whispered to Charizard before pulling back, giving his tummy a rub.

“Professor Sycamore! What in Arceus’ name is going on here?!”

Sycamore couldn’t hide a wince at the sound of his secretary’s shrill voice cutting through the air, despite the woman not being anywhere inside his office. She was actually outside the door, hammering on it in a frantic and frustrated way. Hehe, he had kinda forgotten about her. And the large gaping hole in his wall. And about what he probably should have done earlier. Like, you know, telling someone.

Calem was also startled by the urgency (and anger) in her voice. He reeled back in surprise. And it was then that Calem saw the state of the room they were in. His eyes widened and he made a cutely distressing noise. “What happened to your office?!” he practically shrieked.

“I’ll explain later!” Sycamore called out to his secretary before turning to look at Calem, finding a sense of amusement in the expression of utter shock and disbelief on his face. “Charizard made quite an entrance, didn’t he?”

“He…?” Calem whispered slowly, glancing over at Charizard, whom of which did not look even remotely guilty. Sycamore didn’t think it was at all possible but Calem’s eyes seemed to widen further and a roaring blush spread across his bridge of his nose and cheeks. “I am so sorry!” he spluttered, turning to look at him once more.

“Not at all!” Sycamore grinned widely as he placed his hands on his hips. “Walls and windows can be replaced. Gems like you, cannot.”

Calem shuffled on his feet, looking around in embarrassment. He looked ready to apologise again, but instead said something else, something that caused Sycamore to frown. “Pokemon are more important than I am,” he stated quite resolutely.

While his love for pokemon was endearing, his lack of self-worth was rather unnerving. Especially for someone still so young.

“Ah, but you need to take care of yourself as well,” Sycamore stated as he stepped forward to place a hand on Calen’s shoulder. “After all, if something happens to you, what will become of your Pokemon?”

Calem looked momentarily startled. His eyes looked off to the side, his brow furrowing in thought. Clearly, he hadn’t thought of that before. He looked almost ashamed by that. “…I guess so,” he murmured under his breath.

“I know that you are on a journey to your own greatness and only you can choose your path,” Sycamore went on to say. He needed to get through to him. “But that doesn't mean you have to do it alone.”

“I know that, I really do,” Calem was quick to reply. “It's just...I guess I'm not very good at looking after myself.”

“You’ll just have to learn,” Sycamore said. “After all, that’s what a pokemon journey is all about, hm?”

Calem peered up at Sycamore through his hair, smiling somewhat shyly, yet slyly as well. “It’s kinda strange having you tell me to look after myself when you can’t even look after yourself.”

Sycamore felt himself flush slightly. He got him there. There was no sense in arguing with that, other than to say “Do as I say, not as I do” kinda of thing. He was actually quite tempted to say just that, just so he could see Calem’s reaction.

He smiled charmingly, though. “Are you suggesting that we take care of each other?” he couldn’t help but tease.

Calem blushed an adorable red, looking oh-so cutely flustered once again as he dropped his gaze to the floor. He made no attempt to dispute his words though, nor did he try to remove Sycamore’s hand from his shoulder. His silence was a little startling, if Sycamore was to be honest. Was he feeling ill again?

“Is this really ok?” Calem unexpected asked, peering up at Sycamore with those beautiful eyes of his.

Sycamore was surprised to hear Calem say that.

But before he knew it, he had pulled Calem into a hug, wrapping his arms around him as he held him against his chest, his chin resting on top of Calem’s head. He surprised himself with his actions. But what was more surprising was that Calem returned the embrace, wrapping his own arms around him and grasping at his back as he pressed his face against Sycamore’s shoulder.

“Just…don’t do anything reckless, ok?” Sycamore said as he threaded his fingers through Calem’s hair. He hadn’t realised how effected he was by what happened to Calem last night.

“…I’m sorry for worrying you,” Calem said, his voice muffled against his shoulder. “If anything happens to me, Charizard will let you know. I’ll make sure he doesn’t crash through your windows, though…”

Sycamore chuckled and pressed his lips against the top of Calem’s head, making him squeak and clutch onto him tighter. “If it’s an emergency, then it’s ok. Besides, a bit of fresh air ever once in a while would be good for me.”

Lolling his head to the side so that his ear was pressed against Sycamore’s chest, Calem looked up at him. He was still blushing, but he was smiling, looking quite comfortable and happy. “I'll help with the rebuilding,” he said, indicating to the wrecked office.

“Sure,” Sycamore smiled in return as he, too, looked over at the damaged mess.

Calem’s pokemon were inspecting the hole that Charizard had made, who of which was still looking rather proud. Tyrunt was chomping on some of the scattered bricks, Absol sniffing through the debris, Honedge inspecting the opening while seemingly bickering with Braixen, who was waving his wand around menacingly.

Sycamore could only imagine the crowds that would be gathering outside, pointing and speculating.

Then again, maybe they were simply passing by, uttering the question ‘what has that professor done now?’ under their breaths.

“Professor Sycamore, I swear to Arceus, if you don’t tell me what happened right now-! I swear-I leave you alone for one night, one night, and this happens!”

…Crap. He had forgotten about his secretary again. She’d no doubt be in the process of kicking in the door if he didn’t answer soon. But she could be sooooo scary when she was mad.

“Can you go explain it to her?” Sycamore asked Calem, almost pleadingly. “No one can get angry at a cute little trainer like you.”

Calem rolled his eyes. “Fine,” he said.

Sycamore wrapped Calem up into his arms and rested his chin on top of his head. “And after that, let’s go out for breakfast, hm?”

“You think your secretary will let you?” Calem asked rather dryly as he interlocked his fingers together at the small of Sycamore’s back.

“Ah, I’ve got it all worked out,” Sycamore grinned. “While you keep her busy by fluttering those pretty little eyes of yours, I’ll sneak out through the window! I’m sure Charizard will be happy to help. I mean, the hole is big enough, after all.”

Calem snapped his head up to look at him, an expression of disbelief on his face, mentally asking if he was serious. However, he rolled his eyes a mere moment later when he realised, yeah, that was something Sycamore would do.

Sycamore’s smile widened. Calem knew him so well.

“Where exactly are we having breakfast?” Calem went on to ask. “Geosenge Town?”

“Wherever you want, dear.”

“Don’t call me dear.”

“How about Pet? Sweetheart? Munchkin?”

“Don’t make me regret this, idiot.”


End file.
